Publisher's Summary

When Ellery moved to New York with her boyfriend, she thought they’d live happily ever after in their small New York apartment. She never thought he’d pack his bags and leave because he “needed space”.

With her newfound single status and fear of being alone, Ellery buries herself in her artwork and paintings until one night she helps a mysterious intoxicated stranger get home safely. Little did she know the mysterious stranger is none other than CEO and millionaire Connor Black. After finding Ellery in his kitchen the next morning and assuming she broke his #1 rule about sleepovers, he becomes intrigued, not only by her stubbornness and defiance, but by her kindness.

Connor Black, emotionally dead and damaged, stemming from a personal tragedy, made a vow to never love or fall in love with a woman, until Ellery Lane walked into his life by accident. After she opens up and shows him her world, Connor starts to feel emotions and feelings he never knew existed. Despite the rumors and warnings regarding Connor Black and his use and misuse of women, Ellery finds herself being drawn into his world.

Ellery knows they can never be together because she is harboring a deep secret that could destroy Connor emotionally forever. Join Connor and Ellery as they embark on a journey of courage, love and strength. Will it be enough to save them?

The story was weird. The main character "El" plays games and somehow Connor manages to fall in love despite their instant arguing and fighting. A stronger more believable storyline where the female character has some sense and the make character responds like a real man would respond not something this unbelievable.

What was most disappointing about Sandi Lynn’s story?

The female character was weak and needy.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Felicity Munroe and David Benjamin Bliss ?

Sure

Was Forever Black worth the listening time?

Not unless you have nothing else to do

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Amazon Customer

United States

27/01/14

Overall

Performance

Story

"So, so, so bad"

What would have made Forever Black better?

This story had potential. The first 1/3 of the book would have been okay if the grammar and sentence structure issues weren't so distracting. Once the couple finally decided they loved each other, it just got ridiculous. They loved each other! They had a fight and broke up over something stupid! Wait, now they're back together! Whoops, another breakup! Someone was always storming out and swearing they were over. And don't even get me started on all the throwing of cell phones, vases, glasses -- the heroine was always shattering something and having to pick up the pieces, at which point the hero would swoop in out of nowhere (even if he had previously stormed out and slammed the door) and tell her not to pick that up because she was going to cut herself. After the breakups, they suddenly got back together without even discussing what caused the breakup to begin with.SPOILER ALERT:The cancer thing could have been a really interesting/challenging conflict in the book, but instead it's completely unrealistic. It was 3/4 of the way through the book that they finally mentioned what kind of cancer she had (seriously, who confides in their best friends that they have "cancer" without specifying? Is it breast cancer? Lymphoma? A brain tumor?), and once it was revealed, she was suddenly in a magical clinical trial with few side effects, and then she was cured.

Has Forever Black turned you off from other books in this genre?

No. But it's turned me off from other books by this author.

What three words best describe Felicity Munroe and David Benjamin Bliss ’s voice?

I can't do it in three words :) Felicity Munroe was fine on the women's voices. She's very perky sounding, which would annoy me on most books, but I thought it worked for this heroine and her best friend. I thought she made Connor sound a little robotic, especially during the love scenes, which I assume were supposed to be steamy but somehow weren't. David Benjamin Bliss only read one, very short chapter, which seemed kind of thrown in for no apparent reason. He did an okay job reading it, but the chapter itself didn't seem to advance the story at all.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Forever Black?

If I could play editor, the first thing I'd do would be to correct all of the atrocious grammar and sentence structure issues. I haven't read the book in print, thank goodness, but based on the Amazon reviews, the spelling and punctuation errors are just as bad as the grammar. Descriptions are simplistic and repetitive (drinking game: take a swig every time someone "lightly laughs" or "heavily sighs" -- you'll be drunk by the second chapter), and the author switches back and forth from past to present tense at random, often in the middle of a sentence. There are also word choices that just don't make sense. How do you touch someone "fluently"?After a thorough copy edit, I'd probably cut the random Connor chapter because it did nothing to advance the plot or even give any insight into Connor's character.

Any additional comments?

I could have ignored some of the weaknesses in the story, but when you can actually HEAR how badly a story is edited, that's a deal breaker for me.

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

Mary

RICHFIELD, ID, United States

15/12/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"Boring, predictable …"

What did you like best about Forever Black? What did you like least?

Ellery has an interesting problem, She otherwise was predictable and stubborn. I was hoping for some sort of twist that never came. It was kinda depressing.

Would you recommend Forever Black to your friends? Why or why not?

No it was predictable and depressing

What aspect of Felicity Munroe and David Benjamin Bliss ’s performance would you have changed?

The narrators were good.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

Sharon

Texas

4/01/14

Overall

Performance

Story

"New Adult/College"

This book is considered New Adult/College. Not a teen book but not quite an adult book. The characters are usually 19-26. Generally this category is for 17 and up readers due to the mature theme, language and a little more detailed sex scenes. For me, the NA/C books are a hit or a miss. This book was a miss for me. I didn't hate the book, I just felt like the characters were too immature, I am probably older than the targeted audience for this book The narrator sounded very young but did a great job.I won't be listening to the next 2 books in this trilogy. . .

10 of 12 people found this review helpful

Bexlyn Wright

Kentucky

11/07/14

Overall

Performance

Story

"Just... no."

Apparently there are a lot of rich guys out there with emotional issues who meet a mousy by accident and immediately fall in love despite a horrible outlook on dating. I admittedly listened to it all but it was like a train wreck you couldn't look away from. I almost didn't review it but there are too many people giving it 5 stars and that's just... wrong.

Perhaps this will get a bit spoilery.

How many fights can be had? And why are they all nuclear explosions? Why does either person need to run away the minute they have a fight?

And, I'm sorry, you have cancer? What kind? Just cancer? As someone who has been with people during a battle of cancer this whole line was a bit insulting. And I so wish there was a miracle drug out there that just cures it as simply. This happily ever after was just too... I don't even know... so HEA it's unbelievable.

I honestly wanted to rant for my review but I took a breath and listened to a few other series. This book still haunts me as time wasted. If you're looking for a Crossfire or 50 Shades this is a striped-down bare-bones mockery (and that's saying something).

10 of 12 people found this review helpful

Audio Fan

27/10/14

Overall

Performance

Story

"Immature Behavior"

Would you try another book from Sandi Lynn and/or Felicity Munroe and David Benjamin Bliss ?

No sure about reading any more Sandi Lynn but thought the narrators were decent.

Has Forever Black turned you off from other books in this genre?

No

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

They were good.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Forever Black?

The excessive childish fighting scenes started by Ellery. She was so sweet and caring to everyone else but she was constantly antagonizing Connor.

Any additional comments?

I think the falling in love and fighting through the cancer was unique story line but Ellery was extremely frustrating, immature and had double standards. She would hide information from Connor but go bat shit crazy on him. She was excessively stubborn and constantly goading Connor to fight then would run away and expect him to always chase after her. She always need her "space" and at some point, Connor should have dumped her it was getting so ridiculous. There were times I just wanted to rip out my ear plugs.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Amazon Customer

LEWISTON, ID, United States

16/12/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"I'm an Ellery Fan"

I really enjoyed this book. While I loved the interaction between Connor and Ellery it was the feisty personality of Ellery that kept me so involved. I love that she is her own person and doesn't bow down to Connor. This was a very easy and enjoyable listen.

11 of 14 people found this review helpful

karen

Christchurch, New Zealand

29/12/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"Forever Fabulous !!"

Any additional comments?

This book has moved me beyond words. I've read some of the reviews about it being compared to 50 shades and it's NOTHING LIKE IT! I don't know what book they were reading. The storyline is very beautiful and touching. I cried and laughed and just plain loved this book. It's emotional and beautiful and doesn't fail. For this being the authors first book ever published, I must give her more than 5 stars because she wrote this well. People are saying there were some errors but I didn't find any as a friend told me she fixed them and republished the book. Kudos to you Ms. Lynn for an outstanding first novel that tugged at my heartstrings. I am a huge fan now.... For people who are sick of a story about a rich sex crazed bachelor - Stay away. The description gives a very good detail of what to expect in this story..

12 of 16 people found this review helpful

db

28/02/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"25 Shades of Grey?"

Any additional comments?

This book is a 50 Shades of Grey wannabe. Complete with eye rolling, immature, selfish 20-something female and multimillionare man with relationship issues. It was terrible. That's all I can say. This book was so bad, I could not finish it.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Don Fernandez

San Jose, CA, US

19/01/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Shmaltzy piece of trash. Would perhaps appeal to an 18 year old. Story completely unrealistic from start to finish"

Characters were totally unrealistic. Situations were totally unrealistic It was basically a trashy, poorly written novel.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Sort by:

Miss

Bedford, United Kingdom

1/12/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"A little up and down, but generally good."

Would you listen to Forever Black again? Why?

Probably not. You do get involved in the characters lives and battles. A little slow in places, but generally a good read.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Forever Black?

I liked the part where they met and I did like the ending, but I can't give anything away.

What about Felicity Munroe and David Benjamin Bliss ’s performance did you like?

I liked Felicity, she read it well and had a nice rhythm. I did find David's voice a little annoying.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

?

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Ameera

Edinburgh, United Kingdom

1/03/14

Overall

Performance

Story

"an enjoyable distraction"

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Although it is an enjoyable story line I felt it followed the path of Fifty Shades of Grey without too much graphical additions, characters in some parts speak exact lines from the trilogy. that lets the author down. its not an original if its along the lines of another book.

Would you recommend Forever Black to your friends? Why or why not?

I would recommend the book to anyone who wants a pleasant short story, but would need to tell them its very much a water down version of the fifty shades.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

the narrator was actually very annoying. I think they needed to try to put the characters on better female reader that cant mimics a male line or vice versa should be able to change the tone and pitch of their voice, Sadly this was lacking in this story

Do you think Forever Black needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Well I know it has a follow up book I have listened to it

Any additional comments?

Put me off a bit when I heard the mimic of The Fifty shades word for word and action for action. This lets the author down very badly Narrator could have been better, but still a pleasant read.

1 of 2 people found this review helpful

Report Inappropriate Content

If you find this review inappropriate and think it should be removed from our site, let us know. This report will be reviewed by Audible and we will take appropriate action.